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The Current State, Involvement and Use of Cloud Services

Introduction

A cloud service refers to services that are provided to satisfy the demands of users over the internet from the servers of a cloud computing provider. Cloud services serve as an alternative for companies that use their own on-premises servers and they have slowly evolved into a major force.

The way cloud services are set up, they provide smooth, scalable application access, services, resources, and they are completely controlled by a cloud service provider. A cloud service can scale to match the precise needs of all its users. The fact that the service provider supplies all the required software and hardware for service helps to reduce the need for a company to deploy or provision its own resources or even allocate staff to take charge of the service.

Online data storage, Backup solutions, Hosted office suites, Technical support services, database processing, Web-based email services and Document collaboration services are all examples of cloud services. All of these are handled with the use of a cloud computing provider and this brings us to the question, how is cloud computing defined?

What is the current state of Cloud computing?

We have established the fact that cloud computing is an important part of day to day life, but where is it headed? What is the status and the future of the service?
Cloud computing is a constantly evolving market, and the demand for it is parallel to its rapid growth. A study by Forbes revealed that cloud computing is estimated to rise up to $162 billion by the year 2020. New enterprises are taking their market to the cloud and it is fast becoming a mainstream service in personal lives as well as businesses.
Here are a few projections and statistics provided from research by experts on the topic:

 Statista – commercial cloud sales will represent up to 30% of Microsoft’s commercial revenue at some point this year. Gartner, Inc. – revenue for computing IaaS and PaaS will run over $55bn and move past the revenue for servers. RightScale – 81% of enterprises have a multi-cloud strategy –  RightScale – Public cloud adoption increased by 3% to 92% in 2018 compared to 89% in 2017 RightScale – Private cloud adoption increased by 3% from 72% in 2017 to 75% in 2018

• Everyone is involved

From phone storage to emails sent and received daily, cloud computing is behind the management of it all. In fact, its uses are not restricted to these alone, and more examples of uses are all over the place – from audio and video streaming to instant messaging apps. These are functions that you make use of every day and they make cloud computing an extremely important part of the day to day life of a large number of people. Here are some of the more popular examples and uses of Cloud Computing:

• Social Networking

The social media is definitely one of the most popular options on this list, and it is an area of cloud computing that is often overlooked. Social media such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, MySpace and a host of others make use of cloud computing services. The amount of information stored on these social media makes the need for cloud very important.
Take Facebook as an example. You put up a bunch of personal information that you share with friends and indirectly with the owners of the website/app too. When we account for a large number of users on the platform, the need for a very powerful hosting solution becomes obvious. This is where cloud computing steps up.

• App Development

As a mobile app developer/owner trying to develop an app or game for mobile devices and web, cloud solutions are a reliable tool in the process. The use of Cloud computing will help you in the development of cross-platform user experiences. The availability of pre-coded libraries and tools will simplify and speed up the development process of your app.
A popular example of a mobile game development tool based on the cloud is Amazon Lumberyard.

• Backup and Recovery

You know that “backup and recovery” option on your device? Yes, that is a cloud computing service too. Although when you choose the cloud option for backup and recovery, responsibility is shared between your service providers and the cloud service provider, the cloud is still the major tool in the process.
It gives you a lot more flexibility with storage and you can create backups on a whim without the fear of losing your information. It is even faster to recover files from the cloud since the stored data is secured in a complex network of servers rather than an on-site data center. Popular cloud backup solutions that you may have had experience with are Google Drive and Dropbox.

• Productivity

Popular Office Tools such as Google Docs and the Microsoft Office package are made more effective with cloud computing. Cloud computing makes it possible for you to use these apps over the internet, allowing you to work on your spreadsheets, presentations and text documents on the go. The cloud storage makes sure that your files are safe, regardless of whatever happens to the device that you run the app on. It also makes file sharing a breeze, making it easy for multiple individuals to work on the same project simultaneously.

• Communication

Another major part of your day to day life that is made easier with cloud computing. A large number of the calling and messaging apps that you use are based on the cloud. Apps such as WhatsApp and Skype use cloud computing to give you the option of storing relevant information in the cloud for retrieval at your request.

Conclusion

Cloud computing deals with the delivery of on-demand computing services. These may range from storage and processing power to applications and is typically handled over the internet, usually on a pay as you go basis. There are a vast range of services that are handled with cloud computing and even if you have never heard of the term before, chances are that you are heavily involved in the demand for the cloud computing.

4 Comments

There is comfort knowing data I stored in the cloud will not easily be erased, as to having a physical hard drive and you suddenly lose it or something. The convenience of cloud technology has really helped our business grow.

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